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https://johnmenadue.com/post/2026/05/australia-has-waited-21-years-for-a-human-rights-act-what-is-albanese-waiting-for/>
"This week at the National Press Club, Dr Hugh de Kretser, president of the
Australian Human Rights Commission, renewed his plea for a national
Human
Rights Act. He should not have needed to.
In October 2005, alongside Malcolm Fraser, Susan Ryan, Spencer Zifcak, Greg
Combe and others, we launched a national human rights campaign at Sydney Town
Hall. We consulted widely across Australia and drafted a
Human Rights Bill in
2009. The Rudd government appointed Frank Brennan to report on the question.
Regrettably, it was persuaded by opponents that Australians’ rights were better
protected by politicians than judges. Almost 21 years later, we still have no
national legislation.
Since 2024 the Albanese government has been refusing to act on a parliamentary
joint committee report advocating a national
Human Rights Act. There has been
no response. That silence is characteristic of a prime minister committed to a
small-target strategy.
Since the defeat of the Voice referendum, Albanese has argued that serious
reform requires bipartisan support. But a
Human Rights Act does not require a
referendum. Parliament could pass it tomorrow if the government had the
courage. The numbers exist in the House of Representatives, and in the Senate
the government could almost certainly rely on the Greens and crossbench
independents. The numbers are there. The question is whether the Prime Minister
is interested – or whether this will join the long list of reforms Australia
talks about but never enacts."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
